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In the political history of the Ottoman Empire, the long nineteenth century (1789–1915) stands out as a period of far-reaching, rapid change in the nature of the state. While the persistence of old practices should not be assumed along all frontiers of the empire, where it was applied the mutual support arrangement worked reasonably well at both ends of the nineteenth century. The two cases examined in this chapter illustrate this in a surprising fashion. The parallels are unexpected because among the notables involved, Tepedelenli Ali Pasha (1787–1820) in Epirus (Greece and Albania) and the...

In the political history of the Ottoman Empire, the long nineteenth century (1789–1915) stands out as a period of far-reaching, rapid change in the nature of the state. While the persistence of old practices should not be assumed along all frontiers of the empire, where it was applied the mutual support arrangement worked reasonably well at both ends of the nineteenth century. The two cases examined in this chapter illustrate this in a surprising fashion. The parallels are unexpected because among the notables involved, Tepedelenli Ali Pasha (1787–1820) in Epirus (Greece and Albania) and the Al Sabah and Al Thani shaykhs (1870–1915) in eastern Arabia carry reputations as unwilling subjects who rebelled against the sultan. It was largely due to the centre's failure to continue to uphold its part of the mutual support arrangement.